Following up on what we discussed last week, I find myself realizing that learning to be the beloved of the Father, to simply allow ourselves to be loved is counter intuitive. Everything in us- and outside of us- militates against it. In our culture we define people by what they do, by what kind of character they have and by what they accomplish. God reveals that we have intrinsic value-value just because. Just because we are. Just because He created and redeemed us and that's reason enough for Him.
When the Bible exhorts us not to be conformed to this world, it's not just warning us against corrupt and immoral ways of living. It's warning us about corrupt ways of thinking. When you see yourself as only having value if, as in, "If I am pretty, if I am smart, if I am athletic, if I succeed in my career" and all of the endless ifs, you are setting yourself up for constant disappointment because you will, at some level, fail to live up to the things you think determine worth. How unlike God we are in our thinking! God says you matter. Period. Either we accept that or we don't.
It takes God to reveal God and it takes God to transform the heart and renew the mind. We must depend on God to help us learn to simply be, to be loved and rest in His infinite goodness. If our focus changes from what we do to who we are (His beloved), all that we do will express and reflect that goodness!